It' s Done, my Elk season 2003

[BareBack Jack]

Well it' s Sunday night and I' m running on empty.
I didn' t get off work on Friday till 4:30 pm,on the road to camp and I arriver around 11:30 pm that night.
We got up at 3:30 am ate,saddled the horses rechecked the gear and the horses.We road an hour and a half to our ambush site and waited.At about 6:15 am I could see a bull and 4 cows grazing across the meadow,by shooting light they were gone.I took that as a good sign.We sat there a few more hours dozing off and on,one of us keeping an eye out.Around 8:30 I heard a cow talking,I looked around and could not see anything,well about 20 min. latter I looked across tto the other side and I,right there in front of us was 60 head coming our way.I wispered to my brother in law and the 2 other guys we had elk coming our way.I found a bull on the far right side of the heard got a rest and squezzed.My .300 BOOMED and THHHWAK he droped to his knees lunged and took of running, by this time the 2 other guys were shooting.I see a cow go down and then another.I shot twice more and on my last shot I hit him high in the back and down,push' in his chest with the back legs.He slid in to some sapplings and stopped.
He is not the big 350 class bull I saw in the morning,but he' s my bull and he will bring food to the table all year.He is a 5x4 rag.He was alot of work to get 1/4 and loaded but we got it done.
We had him,the 2 cows 1/4 and loaded by 11:30 and walked out and back to camp and a nice hot cup of joe and a few more photos by 3:00 pm.
I dropped him off at the butchers and the 4 quaters and head weighed in at 578 lbs.
I took my sister and her husband deer hunting to day,so I' m just pooped out after her buck,and her husdans two does.I thank all who talk on hear and share info,it all helped on my hunt.
By the way I got my bull(did I mention that yet),next comes that big white-tail buck that has haunted my dreams for a year.
I' m going to bed.BBJ

[hntngirl]

Congratulations, BBJ! Sounds like you had a great time!

[ELKampMaster]

BBJ,

Hooaah! There were some elk left in those woods after all!

Sleep deprived [X(] as you were, congratulations on being alert enough to pick up on their approach, get your buddies in on the act, and then perform at showtime! Just excellent -- what I call a " command performance!" You guys must operate pretty tight knit, for your partners to come out of a doze quietly, move, position, and shoot! Fast and furious! Must have been good for an adrenaline spike! A successful team effort and meat in the freezer -- it don' t get much better than that! Nothing wrong with a rag bull and a couple of cows to wrap up the late end of your 2003 Elk season! (Yum-Yum! I just had elk chili here tonight!)

I got my fingers crossed that you might have got some pictures of them (pix of your buddies sleeping while on stand would be a hoot, but might test the relationship a little). [>:]

BTW, 51 hours -- little to no sleep, rode in, got 3 elk, quartered, loaded, led the packed horses out on foot, got up next day went deer hunting, got 3 deer down and taken care of and now you sound kind of tired -- that' s what I call stepping up and PAYING THE PRICE -- A SUCCESSFUL ELK HUNT don' t come cheap (and I don' t mean money)! Again, congratulations!

Never Go Undergunned, Always Check The Sight In, Perform At Show Time (Oh Yeah!),
EKM

[trapper T]

BBJ Nice job my freind. Souns like a lot of fun for one day. I personally get to eat Tag soup from two different states this year[:-]. By the way does that Montana elk tag have a " Gamey" taste. I know my Wa tag does, lots of expereince eating those[]

[BeaverJack]

Stretched ' er out pretty good, BBJ. Ends way too quick fer all the plannin' an' dreamin' an' spendin' thet goes with huntin' . I was done afor Oct. 1st, now I gotta jus' ponder what I coulda done differnt to stretch my season a lil' . Not much really. Guess I' ll varnish the snowshoes an' start waitin' for next year. I bet there' s some big ' uns in the foothills now that proper winter has set in. You guys seein' lots of elk now?

[BareBack Jack]

Thanks guys/gals again.
EKM I took lots of pictures not of us sleeping cause what gose around comes around.
I have some great pictures of the horses loaded and the bull,I' m going to wait to post them till the end of the season,I want to put a group photo on here of all the deer and elk we have harvested at the end.
I still have my sister and her husband back the last week for deer,and my other sister and her husdand with my nephew the last week for deer and elk,plus my deer.My dad still has a late season cow tag to fill January.

Trapper T,
If you soak thet MT elk tag in some burbon it' s not bad,I' ve ate a few myself.

BJ,
They shot some fine bulls up there so far,a 13 yr old kid got a real dandy 6x7.
The elk are starting to move to the flats one more good snow and some cold weather will have them racing each other out.

Thanks agian to you all.BBJ

[trapper T]

Ya know that' s just my luck I had to pull out and head back here to the rat race right when the snow started hitting the Belts[][:-]. Oh well next time Good job to all who scored, either by tagging a Bull or just having a good time, I know I did

[BeaverJack]

Trapper,
I' m off for Veterans Day, so I figured I' d cook up some elk chili. Got a new green chili recipe. I' ll let you know how it tastes. Donated 100 lbs of last year' s bull to a school to make room for this feller. Jus' gonna have to double-up on my eatin' this year. Don' t know how thet tag soup tastes, but I reckin' it ain' t near as good as any elk chili.

[Wolf killer]

BareBack Jack
I am glad to hear you got your bull. Gool luck on the whitetail buck you are after.
I took my dad out, he filled his B-tag. I filled my A & B-tags. My wife also filled her A & B-tags. The only thing we have left is my wifes elk. I hope we can find one for her to shoot.

[webejonesin2]

congrats -- someday im hoping i can give Elk a try, along with a few others.